One of 50 copies on Imperial Japanese paper (no. 13), the only copies which contain the Renoir frontispiece in double state.
Manuscript correction in pencil on page 17.
This etching was one of the first Renoir ever produced: an opulent nude with flowing hair, evoking the tale Le Phénomène futur and approved by the poet himself. Based on drawings from 1887, it is the earliest of the painter’s etchings, though he had no particular fondness for the medium (see François Chapon, Le Peintre et le livre, p. 25). Mallarmé had planned rich illustrations for this book, initially titled Le Tiroir de laque, and had chosen his illustrators admirably: J.-L. Brown, Mary Cassatt, Degas, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, and perhaps also Monet. In the end, after more or less advanced attempts, all withdrew except Renoir.
Pages brings together a large part of Mallarmé’s prose poems, including “Plainte d’automne,” “Frisson d’hiver,” “La Pipe” and “Le Nénuphar blanc.”